1. Field
The present disclosure relates to communication networks. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method and system for facilitating transmission buffer under-run protection.
2. Related Art
The proliferation of the Internet and e-commerce continues to fuel evolutions in the telecom and network industries. Convergence in the underlying network architectures often takes place at a pace faster than the lifespan of most network equipment. For example, a large enterprise network today may contain Internet Protocol (IP) networks, storage area networks (SANs), Ethernet-based access networks, and leased lines and switches from telephone service providers. How to manage and fully utilize the equipment capacity in a heterogeneous environment remains an ongoing challenge.
To maximize returns on capital expenditures, many network architects prefer re-using existing equipment to switch data packets of different formats and aggregating low-speed switch ports to provision high-speed logical links. Equipment vendors often provide the capability of mix-and-matching the latest edge equipment with existing core equipment to boost switching capacity and accommodate different types of traffic.
In such heterogeneous networks, to maintain low data transfer latency, switching equipment and/or edge devices often employ cut-through switching, where data frames are transmitted to an output port before it is entirely received at the transmission buffer. Such configuration sometimes can result in buffer under-run situations, where the transmission buffer is depleted before the end of the data frame is received. Transmission buffer under-run could lead to dropped frames and impair service quality.